Arrangements made for $3.7bn debt repayment: ministry

Amid continuous delays to the staff-level agreement with International Monetary Fund (IMF), the government on Tuesday said arrangements had been made to meet external obligations of $3.7 billion by end-June. In a statement, the Ministry of Finance said $3.7bn had to be repaid during the remaining period of the current fiscal year ending June 30. “This should not be any cause of concern as arrangements have been made for the rollover/repayment of this debt”, it said, adding that significant inflows were also in the pipeline during this period. The PMLN-led coalition government had averted the default and the economy was now on a course to stability and growth, it added. This coincided with Chinese charge d’affaires in Islamabad Ms Pang Chunxue who called on Finance Minister Ishaq Dar to convey ‘best wishes and greetings’ on behalf of Qin Gang the State Councillor and Foreign Minister of China who visited Islamabad recently. “She guaranteed the continuous support of the Chinese government to the people of Pakistan”, the finance ministry said in a separate statement. Pakistan and the IMF had been facing a deadlock for almost three months now in reaching a staff-level agreement after the two sides concluded negotiations for the completion of the 9th review of the IMF programme on Feb 9.